There has been a lot of work done along the Panama Canal. While great for transportation, have the biological effects really been studied? A sea level canal across Panama would produce flow from Pacific to Caribbean and Atlantic. This means there will be a lower sea level on average and lower amount of waves. Throughout the Earth’s history, the Pacific has always been isolated. With any great changes between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean could cause species to grow out of balance.
Other effects include the following:
1) Crown-of-thorn starfish might decimate corals on the Caribbean/Atlantic side
2) Poisonous sea snakes could move into the Caribbean/Atlantic side.
3) These species could terribly kill-off other animals without natural predators to counter the effects.
Scientists and aquarists around the world believe that the canal work could be one of the biggest mistakes humans have ever made. Peter Glynn and Ira Rubinoff from Smithsonian Tropical research Institute in Panama warn that this could be the biggest biological change than any other man-made engineering. However, things are not necessarily doomed because it is impossible to predict the outcome such a massive venture. As the saying goes, only time will tell.